History of the Falcon: 10-20

Despite its numbering sequence, the Falcon 10 Dassault’s Falcon 10 actually came to market after the Falcon 20. The Falcon 10, originally named the Dassault “Minifalcon,” first came to market in 1974 to satisfy the need for an aircraft in between the larger Falcon 20 and smaller turboprops. The Falcon 10’s cabin is nearly 12 feet shorter in length than the Falcon 20’s, one foot and five inches shorter in height, and one foot and 10 inches slimmer in width. The Falcon 10 and its successor, the Falcon 100, are Dassault’s only light jets.

Equipped with two Garrett TFE731-2 turbofan engines, the Falcon 10 has a normal cruise speed of 440 knots, a range of 1,828 nautical miles, a climb rate of 4,600 feet per minute, and requires 4,339 feet of runway to takeoff and 2,578 feet to land.

Falcon 20

Dassault’s first business jet, the Falcon 20, hit the market it 1965. Upon production, the French midsize jet was initially known as the Dassault-Breguet Mystère 20. In the U.S., it was initially marketed as the Fan Jet Falcon, which eventually evolved into the Falcon 20C. In its first three years on the market, Dassault sold 160 Falcon 20s to Pan American Business Jets Division, also taking major orders from the French Navy, the U.S. Coast Guard, and FedEx.

The Falcon 20C, Dassault’s initial production version, is powered by two General Electric CF700-2C engines. The Falcon 20D, however, is equipped with CF700-2D engines with higher thrust, lower fuel consumption, and more fuel capacity, the Falcon 20E is equipped with even higher-thrust CF700-2D-2 engines, and the Falcon 20F comes equipped with full leading edge droops and even more fuel capacity. Dassault also created the Falcon 20G, a maritime patrol and surveillance aircraft equipped with two Garrett AiResearch ATG3-6-2C engines.

Dassault further modified some of the aforementioned variants by equipping them with Garrett TFE731-5AR-2C or Garrett TFE731-5BR-2C engines, while also including adaptations of bleed air, anti-ice, hydraulic, fuel, electrical, and engine control systems, as well as the installation of ATTCS. Those variants are called the 20C-5, 20D-5, 20E-5, and 20F-5.

The Falcon 20C has a normal cruise speed of 424 knots, a range of 1,200 nautical miles, a climb rate of 3,500 feet per minute, and requires 5,265 feet of runway to takeoff and 2,864 to land. The model 20C-5 has a normal cruise speed of 443 knots, a range of 2,100 nautical miles, a climb rate of 3,500 feet per minute, and requires 5,168 feet of runway to takeoff and 2,801 to land. The 20F performs similarly to the 20C, but has a longer range at 1,610 nautical miles and a slower climb rate at 3,330 feet per minute. The 20F-5 performs similarly to the 20C-5, but has an extended range of 2,257 nautical miles.

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